His footsteps were swallowed by the lushly adorned walls that lined the stately hall of this most ancient manor. Rich lacquered wooden floorboards scarcely creaked as he plodded toward his destination. Some part of him could never shake the feeling of being in a museum after-hours, the prickle at the back of his neck telling him he was a trespasser, abusing his ill-gotten right to gaze upon the antiquities of this venerable house, opulent and imperial. Outside, a gathering of ravens jeered at him from the dead branches of an oak, only for all but one to fly off seemingly at his inspection.
TIC…TIC…TIC
The sound surprised him, closer than he would have thought possible, as if the house was aiding its master’s covert approach. Perhaps some ancient Malfoy had charmed the manor to discomfit unwelcome guests.
“Snape.” His lip rose into the briefest of sneers as he said the name before settling into a familiar smirk. “A heavy tread for a man so practiced at skulking about.”
“And here I was about to comment on how surreptitious your transit in the halls of your own home.” Snape’s mind was totally focused now, his occlumency was second-nature, but it was only after the assault ceased that he realized someone had been probing his mind’s defenses. “I am expected.”
"Oh, I know." Lucius’ smile deepened. He took a slow step forward, inspecting the head of his cane. "The Dark Lord has been most... vocal about his expectations. He places a great deal of trust in you. A touching sentiment, really."
“Is that jealousy I detect? Envy doesn’t become you, Lucius.” Snape saw Lucius flinch and put a finger to his temple, as if his jibe had caused him a headache. It was then that the mask dropped.
“Listen here you nosy little half-blood, the only reason our master has given you this task is to humiliate me.” Lucius' eyes were now icy daggers, “Another test of my pride! This is the greatest breakthrough we’ve had to capturing that slippery eel and his Order of has-beens.” The temperature of the hall dropped a few more degrees as Snape saw Lucius clench and unclench his jaw. “And it should be mine.”
Snape weathered the storm of Lucius’ wounded ego, giving him nothing but his stony faced attention, “The easiest way to avoid our lord’s ire is to never give reason to invite it.”
Almost as quickly as it had fallen, the mask returned.
“That’s why I’m not too worried about this slight.” His smirk was back, his gloved hand twisting his cane gleefully. “Once you fail, and you will fail, the Dark Lord will look to other, more able hands. Your subtle approach is fine when your subjects still can’t see you for what you are, but with this one…” he let out a chortle, “Well, when the time comes Bella will be only too happy to get to the bottom of it.”
Snape almost flinched at the way he said ‘it’ “He…the master wants this one turned if possible.” There was very little left after Bellatrix had her way.
This only seemed to delight Lucius, “Oh, feeling sentimental headmaster? I hope such feelings won’t get in the way.” he was already passing Snape now, “In my time our headmaster was a source of discipline for his wards. Harsh discipline, but it made me the man I am today. That sort of thing isn’t done anymore, but you’re so good at pretending, maybe you can pretend to be so capable.”
TIC…TIC…TIC
Snape stood, rooted to the floor, watching the platinum locks swaying towards the opposite wing, only continuing on his way when the last whisper of his cloak was out of view.
Lucius was right about one thing. This was a test, just not for the pompous pure-blood.
Charmed shut, Snape unlocked the door with the wave of his wand, the gilt snakes coiled around the knob slithering back around the faux columns and up into the lintel.
Like all of the Dark Lord’s closest followers, the need to prove yourself never ended. Not until the boy was found and that thread of destiny twisted off would their master ever condescend such leniency. It was why he had felt dread when the raven had flown through the window and quorked that single syllable; behind this door was one end of that elusive thread, waiting for him to unknot it.
Hermione Granger.
---
Hey, this is a little short, but maybe that's a good thing. I have a story, but I kind of want to do a little more with it. the next part will be a little smutty, but not the kind this ending might imply. Memories are involved.
I mostly just wanted to get this out there to maybe incentivize me better into editing the next parts. I hope you like it.
This is an AU fic, with the major point of divergence happening after Goblet of Fire, but half the fun of AU stories is trying to figure out what's changed, so I won't give it all up (and maybe I haven't figured it out myself completely) Also Lucius' headmaster I guess would have technically been Dumbledore, so maybe he's talking about the House Head.
Here's this story https://civitai.com/collections/15745433
Chapter 1 - Summons <-- You are here
Chapter 2 - Theater of the Mind
Chapter 2 - Theater of the Mind (cont.)
As ever heres a link to my WIP Archive
Here are some other stories I've done https://civitai.com/user/Gwenwithgreeneyes/collections